The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA), registered charity 212025, was founded in 1874 and today represents the interests of 24,000 amateur beekeeper members and the 3 billion honey bees they care for.

The BBKA exists to promote and further the craft of beekeeping and to advance the education of the public in the importance of bees in the environment. It provides information to help you learn about bees in lots of different ways:

Contact Our Office

There is a wealth of information on this website. If you are having difficulty finding what you are looking for try using the Search facility which is quite powerful.

Swarms

The BBKA is a small charity with limited resources and it relies on a dedicated team of volunteers to collect swarms in public areas. In the office we have just four members of staff, and receive up to 300 phone calls a day asking about swarms. Around 75% of these are about insects other than honey bees, so please go to our Do You Have a Swarm page to check whether the insects you need advice on are actually honey bees.

Please do not call our office or our beekeepers about bumblebees or any insect other than the honey bee. They are unable to help you with these and our beekeepers will not collect/remove them. Our speciality is the honey bee. Other organisations (shown on our Do You Have a Swarm page) are better qualified to answer your questions on other species of bee.

Should you be unsuccessful in finding the answers to any other of your questions within our website then please do not hesitate to contact us. We will do our utmost to help you. but please remember Honey Bees are our Association's speciality.

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has said advice from Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) means government will now back a total ban on neonicotinoid pesticides. The ECP said 'exposure to neonicotinoids under field conditions can have an unacceptable effect on honeybee health'.

The latest trustees newsletter, Bee positive 3, wants to find out if beekeeping associations would like a trailer with a built in display area and all the equipment they would need for an interactive stand at a show.